Mobile and Wireless: Microsoft, Not Nokia, Appears to Be Behind Lumia's Bold Colors

Nokia, with help from Microsoft, is reimagining itself. The Finnish company that dominated the mobile phone market for more than a decade and in 2004 gave us the Communicator, among other then-impressive-looking silver and black handsets, eventually found itself no match for Apple's iPhone or Samsung's lineup of Galaxy devices. In February 2011, it gave up Symbian for Windows Phone, refreshed its ranks, and began working to re-establish itself in the minds of consumers with a brand clarity that Apple has proven brilliant at. Apple's modern, white designs became so synonymous with quality, in fact, that white even became the most popular car color in America, after a decade of a preference for silver. Apple's success, of course, is about more than good design; or rather, it is design in the broadest sense. Apple’s iPhones, and later its iPads, operate in a tightly controlled ecosystem of hardware, software, mobile content and accessories. How they work together is intrinsic to the Apple experience, and furthers the need for Microsoft and Nokia to work absolutely in sync. On Sept. 5, Nokia introduced two new Windows Phone 8 Lumia smartphones and a number of accessories that together make a strong brand statement. On Sept. 19, however, HTC introduced its own Windows Phone 8 handsets, in colors that suggest the palette is actually Microsoft's and an assertion of the operating system, not the hardware makers.